All shares on the large company list OMXS30 closed at minus. Most down due to index weight, the clothing chain Hennes & Mauritz, which plunged 7.0 percent.

The workshop sector and major banks also went weak. Workshop giant Sandvik and truck manufacturer Volvo fell 7.5 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. Among the banks, Handelsbanken lost most, down 7.5 per cent, but SEB, Swedbank and Nordea also fell substantially.

Investment company Bure Equity backed 2.7 percent after a directed share issue where the company withdraws SEK 1 billion from the Persson's Ramsbury Invest family and the Fourth AP Fund, among others.

Concern for a second wave of corona spread after an increased spread of infection was noted in a number of states in the United States again.

Concern in both Asia and Europe

The dismal stock market trend followed a shaky trade on leading Asian stock exchanges during the night and was in line with developments on the leading European stock exchanges. The CAC40 index in Paris fell 4.7 percent, the DAX index in Frankfurt dropped 4.5 percent and the FTSE100 index in London fell 4.0 percent.

With the exception of the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, Wall Street also plunged down Wednesday since the Federal Reserve's Federal Reserve aired bleak prospects for the US labor market and economy. Fed chief Jerome Powell's statement - he assumes a policy rate of around zero for at least two more years - was not enough to keep the stock market acid alive, which has, among other things, lifted Nasdaq to record levels.